errevserrentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: erre is a noun, errent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“erre” is a noun and “errent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,429
“erre” frequency rank
#45,590
“errent” frequency rank
73019
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erre errent
Definition Lettre latine R, r. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de errer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erre and errent apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
erre
6 ch
errent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: erre and errent carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɛʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “erre” sits inside “errent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erre is recorded at frequency rank #27,429, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛʁ\. errent is at rank #45,590, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛʁ\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 73019, this pair ranks #41,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of erre vs errent

Shared letters: er. Private to "erre": -. Private to "errent": nt.

"erre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "errent" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erreere · erer · rere
  • errenterent · erernt · errennt · errentt · erretn · errnet · rerent

Frequency comparison

erre#27,429
errent#45,590

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erre" and "errent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erre" is a noun and "errent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erre" or "errent"?
"erre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,429 in our French list, against #45,590 for "errent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering erre vs errent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “erre”; for a verb, it's “errent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “erre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list